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t e e h s. m e e h s 7 UNM PI NA KM m G N BM um FD A u d. 0 M 0 W Patented Jne 28 i Mam [2z venin;

(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F. D. BELKNAP.

` @DRESSING MACHINE. 170.477,79. Patented June 2.8,A 1892.

Tina.

(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 3.

F. D. BBIaKNAP.

ADDRBSSING MACHINE. No. 477,793. Patented June 28, 1892.

7 Sheets--Sheet 4.

(No Model.) Y

P. D. BELK-NAP.

- Y ADDRESSING MACHINE.

No. 477,793. Patented June -28, 1892.

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my? if (No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 5; F. D. BELKNAP.

ADDRESSING MACHINE.

No. 477,793. Patented June 28, 1892.

'M 9,. KMA/v 1222/6126106' (No Model.) 'z sheets-sheet s.

F. D. BELKNAP.

ADDRBSSING MACHINE.

` Patented June Z8, 1892.

me onlus ravens ce., Fumo-umol. wlsmnmuu o c (Nd ModeL) K 7 Sheets-Sheet 7.

BUBBLKNAP.

ADDRESSING MACHINE. Y 7 A No. 477,793. Patented Jun 28,1892.

f FUNiTEDgSTA-TES PATENT Ormes.

their carrying-frame.

FRANK' D. BELKNAP,

or NEW YoRK, N. Y.

,Y SPECIFICATIoNlformng partof Letters Patent No. 4v7,v93,.dated June 2s, 1892. Y

' Appuntamenti August 15,1391. serian. 402,704. (No modali To all whomri may concern/.- f

Be it knownfthat I, FRANK D. BELKNAP, la. citizen of the United States, residing at New Yrkin the county of New lYork and State of New-York, have inventedV certain new and use-v ful Improvements in Addressing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains yto make and use the same. 1

My invention relates to vthat class of mechanism by which each one of a list of names or addresses may be printed successively upon a series of envelopes or wrappers, and thus manythousands of letters, circulars, or papers'may be addressed to persons all over the country rapidly and accurately. Y

In vthe drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my machine, a part of the table and feedingslide being broken off. Fig. y2 is a rear View and partial section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view withthe feed-table removed. Fig. 4 is a vertical central section through the stenciling apparatus. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the vibrating carrier and exterior view of the inking rolls and drum. Fig. Gis a section of the inking-rolls and vinternal view of Figs. 7, 8, 9, andk are details of the stencil-feed. Fig. 11 is a front view. Fig. 124is a side view of the separatingplate and the vibratin g carrier. Fig. 13 shows the stencil.

Heretofore it has been customary in using opes or wrappers to be addressed were fed.

This has required the services of a skilled attendant to run and feed the machine, and even then the stencil and the feeding-drum would slightly vary their rates of speed, so

.that the addresses would get out of center.

Only every other address on the stencil-ribbon could be used,for the reason that the envelopes must travel at the exact speed of the stencil, and if the envelopes,are four inches broad only addresses four inches apart can be used, and consequently as it would be a wasteof stencil material to set the addresses four inches apart they are setcloser together and the intermediate ones skipped, sol that y each ribbon had to be runthrough twice and an unnecessarily large amount ofl inl; was usedand left upon the stencil-ribbon to gum it up. To avoid these difficulties and obtain a machine Which shall do its Work automatically without requiring the operator to dov more than to put a mass kot' y envelopes in the yfeeding-slideto insure agpositive stencil-feed, y

the exact centering of eachA address, andthe printing of every name at one passage of the stencil through the machine, even though the -v .(Not shown.) Of course any other arrange-V ment of spring or Weight to force the feedingslide forward might be used.

6 6 are upright standards, and 7 7 horizontal arms extending therefrom, on which the carrier mechanism is supported. From the upwardly-extending ears 7a of these arms the oscillatingframcS is swung. This frame supports the rubber-mouthed suction-holder 9; which is connected by the fiexible tube 10 with the air-pump 11. This pump 11 is mounted on the shaft 12, and is operated by the piston-rod 13, connected to the crank 14 on the shaft 15.

1G is the loose pulley, and 16 the drivingpulley, over which the driving-belt is to run.

17 is an eccentric on the main shaft 17, on which said driving-pulley is mounted.

1S is the eccentric-rod, which communicates` motion to the crank 19 on the shaft 15. The arms 20 2O of the vibrating carrier are bent, as shownin Figs. 1, 5, and 12, to enable them to get under the shaft 12on which the airpurnp is mounted. These arms '2O 2O are rigidly ixed to the shaft 15, and. by virtue of Vthe connections above described are caused to vibrate with every revolution of the main driving-shaft 17a, so that the vibrating car rier travels back and forth along the curved runway 2, whose arc of curvature has the the runway 2"L by the tension of the spiral springs 23, attached to the upper `ends 22 of the said fingers. The fingers have lugs 24 on their outer faces, which slide under and over the curved strips 25. They go under on the downstroke, and are thereby caused `to grip.

the envelope beneath them firmly. they have reached the lower end 25n of the strips, the lugs snap up over them and ride 'on the upper side thereof on the upstroke,`

may be ,said to serve as acam-track for the` return of linger 21.

The suction-holder 9 is a bell-shaped piece with rubberlips, which when pressed against the column of envelopes, as shown in Fig. l2, picks the first one up by virtue of the suction created by the pump ll. rlhe oscillating frame 8, on which the suction-holder is mounted, is controlled by the link 26, extending to the crank 27 on the shaft l5. This acts to withdraw the holder and lift the envelope out into the position shown in Fig. l2. The separating-plate 28 is then lifted in back of it, and the spring-fingers 2l seize it and carryit down. The plate 28 has slots 29, up into which the hooks 30 slide, lifting the plate a short distance during the last part of the upward stroke of the vibratin carrier. 30 are pivoted to the sides of the fingers 2.1, and are therefore mounted and oscillated on said fingers. The springs 2S draw said plate down again. upper ends above their pivoted points of support which engage with the under face of the cam-strips 32 during the lower half of the stroke of the carrier, and thereby the upper ends of said piece 30 are depressed and their lower and hooked ends are lifted up, so that they do not bring up the envelope on the upstroke of the carrier, butleave it in the grasp of the printing apparatus. The vibrations of the hooks 30 are limited by the piu 90, working in the recess 91 in said hooks.

The main elements of the printing apparatus are the ribbon or continuous stencil in which the names and addresses to be used are perforated and the inking mechanism. 'lhe'stencil 33, together with the keeper-ribbon 34, is unrolled from the spool 35. The stencil-'ribbon runs through the tension de vice 3G, under the stationary platen 37, and overthe reciprocating skeleton platen 3S. It Vthen goes through the stencil-feed andbetween the cleaning or wiping rollers 39 39to thewinding-up spool 40. The keeper-ribbonl TheniFigs. 4, 5, and 6. mounted in slides 5S, which are capable of vradial motion in the rotating crank frames or lcarriers 57. slides are mounted the little idlers 59. cam-supporting pieces G0 are mounted in ver- ;ti'cal guides 60l and o0b and rest upon springs These hooks The hookshavelugs 3l on theirV vfreeing of the rollers from the drum.

spool35 'to spooly 40. This keeper is always wound up' with the stencil to keepthe ink from getting onthe wrong side of the stencil and smudging the envelopes.

The stencil-feed mechanism is illustrated in Figs. 7, to l0. The slide 4l has the bellcrank 42 mounted thereon. The lower `arm 44 of this bell-crank is connected by link 45 -to crank-disk 46 on shaft 47. Shaft 4 7 is driven by gear 48, which meshes with gear 49 on the main shaft. The upper arm 43 of the bellcrank has its motion limited by the stops 50. The arm 44 has its motion limited by the atl-1v yjustable stop 51. tions 52, which register with the perforations .253 in the borders of the stencil-ribbon. The Y tumbler 54, mountedv on a bracket on the main frame, has downward projections 55, which falso register with these perforations.- When Vthese are allowed to drop into the perforaf ltions during the left-handed motion of the Eslide, the stencil is stopped and held in the f-proper position to print a name and address fas shown in Fig. 7. At the beginning of the {right-hand stroke of the slide the bell-crank .is lifted, as shown in Fig. 10. `The projections 52 then enter the perforations 53 inthe stencil-ribbon, forcing out the tumbler and moving the ribbon forward'till the next name ,is centered and the tumbler has fallen into the next pairof holes or perforations 53. Thefeed-slide returns with its bell-crank in the lposition shown in Fig. 7.

The arms 43 have'projec- The printing mechanism is'illustrated in 'lhe inking-rollers 5G are Upon the inner endsof these The (i2, stepped in sockets 62a. These give ayieldjing support to the pieces 60, which have the cams'l formed thereon. As the idlers 59`run lover these cams the inking-rollers are lifted off the stationary inking-drum 63, which'may be cut away, as at 63%Fig. 5, to facilitate this The drum may be left entirely cylindrical, however, and the same result obtained by raising the cams 6l. The drum (i3 is mounted on the vstationary shaft 64 and does not revolve. When the idlers 59 are not on the cams, the

springs 5S hold the inking-rollers down upon Motion is given to the inking mechanism by gears 65 and 66, the latter being on the :nain fshaft.

The reciprocating skeleton platen 3S has lateral projections 71, which are su pported by plungers 69, which work through lugs 69n upon the main frame l'. Springs 70 surround said plungers and are confined between thel IOC IIO

lowered. The springs 70 raise it'again'when the cams allow them to do so.- Y

The ink-fountainl 72 has a fountain-'roll' 73,

operated bythe ratchet-wheel 74 and paw175 on the lever 76. This leveris oscillated by the link 77, extending from the bell-crank 7 8,v

to which motion is given by the ca1n 79 on the shaft 80. Motion is given to this shaft by the'gear 81meshing with the gear 66. T he ink-'rollers 56fto'ucb the fountain-roll 73 and take up the ink therefrom. .The pinion 86 on the main shaft drives the idleegear 85which drives` gear 84 upon wiping-roll 39 of the pair 39 39. lThis pair of wiping-rollers are gseared together by gears 82 83. The belt 87 transmits motion to the spool and is left'slack, so that it may slip when the increased diameter of the roll forming on said spool require ley 16a.

that it should run more slowly. f

With 'the aid of the foregoing descrip-tion of parts the mode of operation of the machine having been threaded through the machine and a column of envelopes placed before the feeding-slide 3, motion is given to the apparatus by shifting the belt onto the driving-pul- The plunger of the air-pump being withdrawn on'the upward stroke of the vibratingv carrier, the suction-holder 9 picks up the first envelope. i withdrawn vby the action'of the crank and link 27 26, the envelope is lifted out into the position shown in Fig. l2. The separatingplate 28 is lifted in behind the envelope by `the hooks 30, and the spring-iingers'2l, dropping olf the end of the camway 25, come down' upon the envelope, which is thus gripped between the fingers andthe plate. .The downward stroke of the carrier allows the plate 28 to fall back to its position, thrusts the sucton-holder 9 out fora second envelope, and

'carries the first one down the curved runway under'the stationary platen 37. At that moment the cam 67 has acted to draw down the reciprocating skeleton platen `38, so asto permit the envelope to be placed between ythe two platens. The lugs 24 onthe spring-iingers 2l snap up over the ends 25 of the camstrips 25 andl ride back on top of the same. The hooks 30 are lifted out 0f the way by virtue of the lugs 3l, running under the camstrips 32, so that the vibrating carrier makes it ope from the grasp of the printing apparatus. By virtue of the action of the springs the reciprocating platen 38 is lifted up again as soon as the vibrating carrier has begun its up trip and the envelope is securely held between the two platens. The stencil-ribbon has been fed along Whilev the platens are apart and a new address centered under each envelope by the feed illustrated in Figs. 7 toV lcome around. 4 After the envelope has been yprintedv it isv `released by the downward'motion of the `iecprocating platen caused by the cams 67 and the vibrating carrier coming down witha second lenvelope lkicks the first one out onto-the 'table'88. Connections may be made `to the gear 89 to operate additional mechanism.

will easily be understood.' The stencil-ribbon The suction-holder being then oke without withdrawing the envel? and onto that 40 by'this feed. The slack is preventedfrom accumulating in the machine by the action of the cleaning and wiping rolls 39 39% These rolls'are made of such composition that they act ascleanersbyreason of the fact that ink will adhere to them and leave the stencil-ribbon., As the stencil-ribbon runs over the reciprocating platen 37 it :isforced up against the the 'envelope'by it. l The inking-rollers 56 having picked up a supp ly of ink in their revolution are lifted up by vthe cam 61' and rolling along the 'under lside fof the stencil print the name and address cut therein upon `the `envelope'above it.H The roller 73l is given a partial revolution at everyy v'turn of the cam 79, so as .to present a fresh inky surface to the inkingfrollers as theyy v, .n y a It is evidentthat various changes might be Crank-motions may be substituted for eccen- Having therefore described my invention,

- l. Inan addressing-machine, the combinay'curved runway the upper portionof'which is at right angles to the line of motion of the feed- Iing-slide, andthe suction-holder,substantially as described.

tries, weightsforsprings,`,and vice versa.v The linkl fountain and rolls may be operated by other methods Awell known in the art. The

.driving-pulley may beA put on' any other' shaft, &c.

ICO

what I claim as new, and desire to protect by I 4Letters Patent, is- Y IO5 tion of the table, the horizontal feeding-slide,

the vibrating carrier V,which `runs falo-ngV a t ro' 2. In an addressing-machina the combina` tion of the table, the feeding-slide, the vibrating carrier, the suction-holder, and the airpump connected to said suction-holder and operated in unison with the movements ofthe Vvibrating slide, substantially as described.

3. In an addressing-machine, the combination of the table,the feedingslide,the vibrating carrier, the suction-holder, the oscillating frame on whichsaid suction-holderis mounted, the shaft which voperates said vibrating carrier, and connecting mechanism whereby said y shaft causes said oscillating frarneto move backward or forward at the proper moment, substantially as described,

4. In an addressingmachine, the combina# tion of the table with a curved runway, .the` vibrating carrier traveling lalong said runway, the feeding-slide at one endofsaid runway, and the printingdevice at the other end,

substantially as described.

5. In an addressing-machine, the combination of the table with a curved runway, the

Y the suction-holder, substantially as described.

7. In an addressing-machinethe combina-` tion of the table with a curved'runway, the vibrating carrier traveling along said runway and having the spring-fingers mounted thereon, the feeding-slide, the separating-plate, the hookson the carrier for lifting saidplate, the suction-holder, and the return cam-.track for the spring-fingers, substantially as described.

S. In an addressing-machine, the combinationot thetable, the vibrating carrier having 1he-spring-tngers mounted thereon, the return cam-track for said fingers, the sliding separating plate, the hooks on` the carrier, which operate said plate, and the cams which lift said hooks out of the way ot' the envelope, substantially as described. V

9. In anaddressing-machine, the combination of the stationary platen, a vibratingcarrer which places the envelope belowsaid platen, the stencil, a cam mechanism by which said stencil may be pressed against the envelope'underthe platen, and an inking apparatus which rolls over said stencil While in this position, substantially as described.

10. In an addressing-machine, the combination of va stationary platen, a stencil beneath said platen, a stationary inking-drum, one or more inking-rollers which revolve around said-drum, a cam by which said rollers are lifted oit the drum andV forced against the l stencil, the ink fountain and roll, and the j driving-gears, substantially as described.

l1. In an addressing-machine, the combina- 1` tion of a stationary platen, a stencil beneath 1 @said platen, a stationary inking-drurn fiatl@tened at that portion of its circumference oppositethe stencil, one ormore inking-rollers Iwhich revolve around said drum, a yielding cam-track which lifts said rollers ott said drum wheny opposite said platen,A the ink- ?fountain, and driving-gears, substantially as ijdescribed. y

I 12. In an addressing-machine, the combinaj'tion of a stationary platen, a movable skeleton platen opposite thereto, a continuous stencil which runs between, and a setl of ink `ing-rolls, and mechanism which causes said `inking-rolls to come up under the skeleton `platen and pressink through the same and tthrough the stencil, substantially as dejiscribed.

l 13. In an addressing-machine, the combina- !"tion of a continuous stencil which hasregu- Marly-spaced' perforations therein, aV tumbler which is pivoted to the main frame and which `has projections that fall into said yperforations, a reciprocating stencil-feed'on the other iside of the stencil, pins connected therewith, lwhichregister with the` above-mentioned perlforations, and mechanism for raising andlowteringsaid pins, substantially as described.

lll. In'an addressing-machine, the combina- Q'tion of the continuous stencil which has regu- ;larly-'spaced perforationstherein, the stencil- .t`eed slide, the bell-crank mounted thereon, tthe link by which the lower arm of said bell- @crank is connected to the driving-gear, the projections on the upper armsof said bellcrank, which enter the lperlorations in the stencil, and the stops by which the play of lsaid bell-crank is limited, substantially as deliscribed.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in `presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK D. BELKNAP.

Witnesses: I

` A. P. SMITH,

PETE-R R. GATENs. 

